(Reuters) -The following are some of the other contenders for the women’s singles title at the U.S. Open, which begins on Sunday:
JESSICA PEGULA (UNITED STATES)
*World ranking: 4
Last year’s U.S. Open runner-up will be eager to go one better but a shock French Open loss to wildcard Lois Boisson and a first-round Wimbledon exit has done little to help her confidence.
The 31-year-old has won two of her three titles this year on home soil, in Austin and Charleston, but since Wimbledon the American has struggled to produce her best form.
She lost to Leylah Fernandez in Washington, to Magda Linette in Cincinnati and to Anastasija Sevastova at the Canadian Open, where Pegula was a two-times defending champion.
She will be hoping to re-assert her authority in New York after failing to go beyond the fourth round in any of the year’s first three majors.
MIRRA ANDREEVA (RUSSIA)
*World ranking: 5
The teenager became the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 title when she triumphed in Dubai aged 17 in February. She then backed it by toppling world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the Indian Wells final, having beaten Iga Swiatek en route.
While deep runs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon underscored her all-court credentials, it is on hardcourts that the Russian’s game can do the most damage.
Andreeva’s fitness will be under scrutiny at Flushing Meadows after she suffered an ankle injury during her Canadian Open third-round loss to McCartney Kessler. Unable to play in Cincinnati, she will be hoping her lack of match practice does not cut short her U.S. Open run.
MADISON KEYS (UNITED STATES)
*World ranking: 6
The Australian Open champion and 2017 U.S. Open runner-up proved that she has the temperament to win on the big stage after beating Sabalenka at Melbourne Park to claim her first Grand Slam title in January.
Though the U.S. hardcourt swing offered only flashes of Keys’ early-season form, the 30-year-old will look to rebound after a third round exit at Wimbledon.
Keys had a quarter-final run at the Canadian Open, where she lost to 15th-ranked Clara Tauson, before a last-16 defeat by Elena Rybakina in Cincinnati.
Backed by a strong home support in New York, Keys will be hard to stop if her ferocious forehand is firing.
ELENA RYBAKINA (KAZAKHSTAN)
*World ranking: 10
The 2022 Wimbledon champion and 2023 Australian Open finalist has never gone past the third round at the U.S. Open in six attempts, and last year’s withdrawal before her second-round match due to a back injury further stalled her progress.
Rybakina failed to go beyond the fourth round in any of the Grand Slams this year but her tune-up week in Cincinnati hinted she might be peaking at the right time after she blasted past Sabalenka and also beat Keys before falling to eventual champion Swiatek in the semi-finals.
With her aggressive baseline play and one of the tour’s biggest serves, Rybakina remains a threat.
VICTORIA MBOKO (CANADA)
*World ranking: 24
A few weeks ago barely anyone would have paid much attention to Canadian teenager Mboko. But following a fairytale run to the Montreal title, the 18-year-old will find herself under the Flushing Meadows spotlight when she makes her debut at the hardcourt major.
The 18-year-old stunned 2023 U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff and Rybakina before beating Naomi Osaka in the Montreal final to win her first WTA title.
After her famous comeback win over four-times Grand Slam champion Osaka, Mboko pulled out of Cincinnati to rest and manage a wrist injury.
She will make her first U.S. Open main-draw appearance seeded, a staggering leap for a player who started the year ranked 333rd.
Powered by a strong first serve, heavy groundstrokes and surging confidence, Mboko could well upset the established order of world tennis over the next fortnight.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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